 Andy Warren Image Credit: NASA/MSFC |
 Jason Hopkins Image Credit: Hopkins |
When completed, SLS will be capable of taking a crew and cargo on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. The Orion spacecraft will carry the crew aboard the SLS to space; provide emergency abort capability; sustain the crew during the space travel; and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.
Warren is a native of Macon, Georgia. In 1987, he earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, where he was a Bell Honors Program Scholar. A year later, he received another bachelor's degree -- this in mechanical engineering, from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He earned his master's in business administration in 1992 from the Florida Institute of Technology while working at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Hopkins is a native of Norcross, Georgia. In 2003, he earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He received a master's degree in 2006 in systems engineering from George Washington University in Washington.
Warren and Hopkins will be at Georgia Southern University Sept. 19 to talk to students about SLS, Orion and their NASA careers. On Sept. 20, they will participate in the university's science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Festival -- aimed to get students excited about what STEM disciplines have to offer. Festival goers can meet them at the event’s NASA booth between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The event will be held on campus at the Nessmith-Lane Building, 847 Plant Drive. SLS interactive exhibits also will be on display.
Warren is the deputy manager for the Ground Operations Liaison Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He and his team ensure close communication and coordination between the SLS Program, managed at the Marshall Center, and the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Center. The GSDOP was established to develop and operate the complex equipment required to assemble and safely launch rockets and spacecraft.
"I began my career at Kennedy Space Center in 1988 as an engineer, which I think is a huge benefit to my current job of being a liaison between the two centers," Warren said. "My start at Kennedy is really where space exploration got in my blood," he said. "I’m proud to be a part of such an ambitious program and hope our new vehicle, SLS, fuels excitement about space exploration in future generations the way it did for me working on the Space Shuttle Program."
Hopkins is the operations integration manager for the Orion Program and the multi-use manager for the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center. As operations integration manager, he supports Orion operations in preparation for the launch of Exploration Flight Test-1.
Exploration Flight Test-1, scheduled for December, will launch the Orion atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37. The test will evaluate launch and high speed re-entry systems such as avionics, attitude control, parachutes and the heat shield.
For Ground Systems Development and Operations, Hopkins works to develop partnerships with others in the space industry to enable commercial space. He began his NASA career in 2004 as a satellite engineer at Kennedy.
"I've been interested in space since I was a kid," Hopkins said. "Having the opportunity to be a part of the space program in any facet is exciting. I'm especially thrilled to be a part of this new generation of people working to send humans farther into space than ever before."
The first flight test of the SLS will feature a configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity and carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit to test the performance of the integrated system. As the SLS evolves, it will provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions even farther into our solar system.
For more information on SLS, visit:
Kim Henry
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
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